This Friendship Day Give Small Gifts to All Your Friends: 10 Fabulous Ideas for DIY and Personalised Gifts to Win Your Friends' Hearts (2019)

Friends are no less than angels in our life, and a special day to celebrate their presence should be done with aplomb! Fill the day with happy wonders for your friend(s) by making surprise visits to them and spending some valuable time together, gift them something that symbolizes your bond, let them know that you care and make it special for all of you. Your little gestures on this special day cannot only bring a smile to your friend's face but can also warm their hearts and strengthen your relationship. Write a nice note telling them how much they’re appreciated, or get them flowers, chocolates or a scrumptious cake as a mark of celebration.

These days, being connected via technology has taken precedence over personal meetings or phone calls, thus robbing one of the personal effects that could make them happier. Take the old road by turning up to meet your friends even if briefly on this day, or text them not with a forward, but a few lines or memories that have some significance in your association with each other. You’d dedicate a favourite song to your friends and let them know to tune in when the show airs, book a concert or a movie for all of you on a particular day and/or treat yourself to some memorable selfies!

When looking for gifts in honour of your friends, be thoughtful and consider their likes and interests. Whether it’s a personal note, a favourite dish, or a gift, let your choice be personalized and special to your friend. This will imply your attention to detail and thoughts of affection to your friends in terms of being mindful of their preferences and also letting them know that they hold a special place in your heart.

Here’s a lovely way to show your friend just what he/she means to you, by gifting something that’s handcrafted with love.

Chalkboards are the new age message boards for penning thoughtful wishes and expressions of affection for loved ones these days, and what better time than Friendship Day to warm your friend’s heart with a personal message from you! Here’s chalkboard easels in the small size that would make for a lovely décor item as well as a gift.

Made of high-quality wood, this boards are reusable and can be wiped clean with a duster or damp cloth. You can buy some colourful chalks separately. The board is available in assorted shapes measuring approximately 14 cm x 9.5 cm and is priced at Rs.169. You’d personalize the board with this message ‘best friends are hard to find, that’s because the best is already mine!’ and illustrate it according to your desire.

When it comes to a thoughtful gift, a memory journal is ideal to celebrate your friendship, it is easy, inexpensive and is unique because it is personal and straight from the heart! All you need is a journal book, a few keepsakes from your years together, like tickets to a popular event you went to, some personal messages shared with each other or significant items dear to you. For this gift, you’d need to go back in time and revisit your memories of the special moments you’ve had with your friend, all the fun, frolic, touching and insane times, the funny bits, the whacky instances, the more specific you get the better the thought.

It’s best to spend some time on this so that you have enough to pen down in the journal, recall as much of memories as you can. To make it more interesting, you’d make the journal from an old book, perhaps one of your friend’s favourite reads or create it from a small scrapbook. You can choose to add pictures, souvenirs or tokens of the memories in the book for its visual appeal and make it colourful and inviting.

Melted crayon art is quite a trend these days and a popular gifting option. A set of long wax crayons comes for Rs. 60 for 24 shades, a stretched canvas board measuring 20 x 25 cms is priced at Rs. 140.

The friendship survival kit is a collection of little things that can bring a smile to your friend's face in times of distress or sorrow, sort of pep-ups to gladden his/her spirit. To make a friendship survival kit, get yourself a fancy box or basket and use tissue paper to decorate it before placing the kit together. On a piece of paper or on plain white gift tags, you can write what each item signifies in the kit. You’d make the kit as big as you’d like. Once you have it all, wrap all the contents in the basket or box in cellophane, which is available in assorted colours and designs at any departmental store. Tie the top of the cellophane with a ribbon and gift it to your friend.

Making a friendship band is quite easy. You will need three embroidery threads in different colours, some wooden beads and scotch tape.

Whether it’s a boy or a girl, accessories are dear and precious to all, and most people have them strewn about here and there with earrings, necklaces, bracelets, chains or watches. Here’s an easy DIY jewellry box you can make for your friend with some simple things like matchboxes, Fevicol, a pair of scissors, plain cardboard, some patterned paper, a white tape, glue, a thin string of metal wire, a divider and few small pearls.

Decorated stones are not only eye-catching but can make for some excellent stress-busters by way of having them adorned with positive affirmations or inspiring words with different colours, patterns and designs. The stones can be painted on with different acrylic paints, with pointed round brushes with synthetic bristles, which are firm and aid in painting smaller details in a controlled manner. You can choose your stones from a beach or gravel bar. Work on the surface of these stones that is smooth to paint on. With a quick rinse with soapy water, you can start painting on them your choice of design, words, images, etc. Once you’re done, leave them to dry overnight and then put them all together in a basket or gift box in tissue paper, wrap them and gift to your friend.

Magnets are quite easy to make yourself with just some glue and a magnet. All you need is a small and lightweight object that’s flat on one side, approx. 1-2” wide or high, an industrial strength glue and some round magnets. It could be small stones, crystals, polaroids, colourful buttons, plastic flowers or glass cabochons. Let’s consider decorated stones. As explained above, decorating the stones is delightful with a pointed round brush and some acrylic colours. Once done painting & drying them, stick the magnets to the back of the stones with the super glue and leave them to dry. Voila! the magnets are ready! You can get the glue and magnets easily online. The glue is priced at Rs. 600 while the magnets are for Rs. 249 for 20 pieces.

Take an old spice jar or a jam jar from your kitchen and adorn it with some colourful ribbons, stickers or you can even draw on it. Fill the jar next with handwritten or even printed notes of positive words, quotes, memories or affirmations and also include some shared new activities you can perform together in the future. When labelling the jar, mention that the jar should be opened whenever your friend needs a pep-up or change of mood. Here’s what you could say – “Here’s a jar full of sunshine to brighten your day, for you bring so much happiness to all my days!”